THE TIMOR LESTE DAIRY PROJECT
The Timor Leste Dairy Project Story So Far
The Timor Leste Dairy Project began in 1998 when the Kiwanis Club of Brighton (Victoria, Australia) undertook to provide fresh milk for the children of Timor Leste. The club had learnt that many of the children in the Fuiloro District of Timor Leste walked over 5 kilometres a day to get to school and were in urgent need of nutritional support.
With financial assistance from the Kiwanis Clubs of Australia and New Zealand,
and the co-operation of Christian College, Geelong, the project committee reared
a herd of tropical tolerant cattle whilst volunteers
dismantled a disused herringbone dairy from near Shepparton. The diary was
reassembled at Fuiloro Agricultural College in Timor Leste and the first herd
(comprising 30 pregnant heifers and two bulls) left Australia in April 2002.
The herd now provides fresh milk for the children attending the school at
Fuiloro as well as some milk being available for orphanages.
The management of the dairy at Fuiloro was taken over, for two years, by
Land O'Lakes
in August 2007.
Kiwanis Australia are presently reviewing their future involvement with this project. The outcome of this review will be posted on this web site when the review is completed.
The two Peters visited Fuiloro in June 2008 to assess the condition of the dairy at the Don Bosco Agricultural College. They found that:
Milk production is low due largely to poor herd management.
The animals are in fair to good condition.
The dairy is in need of fairly extensive renovation.
The dairy plant is in good condition but mains power remains a problem.
The tractor and equipment have minor problems which usually results in them being unavailable for farm work.
The irrigation system is now operational.
Click here to view photos taken during their visit.
Kiwanis
International, District of Australia
Kiwanis International Foundation